League News Archives: Winter 2006-Summer 2008

In the blink of an eye
Blink and you missed it. One hour is all it took to complete the seventh annual Ultimate Fantasy Football League draft, making it the quickest - and perhaps most exciting - player selection process in league history.

In the early days of the league, an e-mail draft was used, and seeing four or five picks made during a 60-minute span would be cause for an owner to say that the draft was moving at a relatively quick pace. In recent seasons, when live drafting was experimented with via AOL Instant Messenger, completing two or three rounds in one hour was considered normal. But a total of 168 selections were made between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Eastern time Friday, Aug. 15, and yet there was still plenty of time to chat and trash talk with fellow owners.

So, what led to the draft process taking so little time? For starters, nine out of 12 owners were present for the live event, an increase over turnout for previous live drafts. In addition, the computer automatically selected players for absentee owners, based on a list of pre-ranked players. Finally, owners had a maximum of 60 seconds to make their picks; otherwise, the computer selected a player for them, based on need.

Owners had rave reviews for the new draft system. "The computer is picking better than I am," said Football Gal owner Mozelle Meyers, who arrived in the draft room during the middle of the event. "Boy, this is so fast ... this is great." Craig Hoffman, owner of Deltaman, said sarcastically, "Man, do I miss the e-mail draft," drawing a few laughs.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer was the first overall selection, with Atlanta Falcons placekicker Jason Elam playing the role of Mr. Irrelevant, the final pick in the draft. Both players were chosen by Hoffman. Other notable picks included Football Gal drafting New York Jets quarterback Brett Favre, Steph Infections owner Stephanie George choosing Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger instead of fellow Syracuse alum Donovan McNabb, and Andrew So of The Catch taking a late-round gamble on Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams, as a backup for Ronnie Brown.

CheeseWhiz owner Jim Douglas, a noted Green Bay Packers fan, didn't seem too enamored with picking Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte. However, nothing matched the reaction of Cheeko Chiefs owner Chad Fuller selecting Tennessee Titans tight end Alge Crumpler, while he was having computer problems and temporarily knocked offline. "I drafted Alge Crumpler!," he said. "Do you guys have any idea how many drinks I am going to have to pour down my throat tonight to forget about that pick?"

Despite a few minor glitches, such as saying an owner was away from their computer when they never actually left, the draft ran extremely smoothly. Among the changes that may take place for next season include expanding the draft time from 60 to 90 seconds and eliminating roster requirements that limit the number of players a team can have at one specific position. These matters will be delved into further during the next offseason.

As of noon Eastern time Monday, Aug. 18, all rosters have been unlocked, meaning that players can now be added, dropped or traded.

Contest news
If you are interested in participating in the 2008 Football Pickem Challenge at Yahoo!, click here. If prompted, the user ID number is "25797" and the password is "favre" (remove the quotation marks). The object of football pickem is to predict the winners of every NFL regular season game throughout the course of the year. Although some pickem contests use point spreads, they will not be used in this particular group.

If you are interested in participating in the One (Loss) and Done Survival Football contest at Yahoo!, click here. If prompted, the user ID number is "7085" and the password is "belichick" (remove the quotation marks).

Draft information
The live draft for the Ultimate Fantasy Football League will take place Friday, Aug. 15, in the draft room on Fleaflicker's website. Although the process of selecting players will not begin until 8:30 p.m. Eastern time, the draft room will open at 8:00 p.m., to allow everyone to get settled and chat with each other. It is advised that everyone who is participating be present in the room no later than 8:20 p.m. Owners who are unable to make it should pre-rank their players, if necessary, on Fleaflicker's website prior to draft time. All owners who plan on being at the draft should test out the website's mock draft feature, to insure that their computer is compatible with the software needed to participate in the event. Each team has up to 60 seconds to make their selection; otherwise, the computer will randomly select a player based on need. The computer will also choose players for owners who are unavailable, and the commissioner has no control over these selections.

Since each team has two keeper players, the draft will only be 14 rounds. By the time the draft is over, each team's roster should include one starting quarterback, two starting running backs, three starting wide receivers, one starting tight end, one starting running back/wide receiver, one starting placekicker, one starting defensive team and six bench players.

Click here to view the draft order, and click here to see the list of franchise players. This information can also be viewed on the UFFL draft sheets, designed in Microsoft Word format by Mozelle Meyers, which were recently distributed on the league message board.

If you have any questions, or for assistance attempting to get into the draft room on Friday, contact the commissioner at jared2@dolphin.upenn.edu or on AOL Instant Messenger (Jared259), MSN Messenger (jbyrd002@yahoo.com), or Yahoo! Messenger (jbyrd002).

Dude, where's my league?
As a result of AOL acquiring Fleaflicker, all owners who registered for the Ultimate Fantasy Football League at the Fleaflicker.com website prior to May 2008 (before the takeover) will have to register again, if they have not already done so, or risk having their entire account deleted by September 15, 2008, according to a recent e-mail from site administrators. Anyone who registered after this time should be okay. For more information, check out the commissioner's note.

In other news, owners are currently voting on how much time will be alloted to make player selections during the live draft on Friday, Aug. 15 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time. The options are 30 seconds, 60 seconds or 90 seconds. Voting on this matter is taking place on the Yahoo! Groups message board, and will conclude at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, Aug. 12.

2008 schedule released
The 2008 UFFL schedule has been released, and as usual, each team will play 13 regular season games. However, unlike in previous years, some of the games will be considered "home" and some of the games will be considered "away." In the past, all fantasy football matchups had a neutral setting.

Each team will play its division rivals twice during the 2008 season (once at home and once on the road), and will play three games against non-division opponents. Because of the odd number of non-division games - as well as the odd number of regular season games in general - half of the teams in the league will play seven home games and six road games, and vice versa.

In other news, possible rule changes for next year are being discussed on the league's message board, and will be further examined in upcoming weeks. Submissions are being accepted for 2008 franchise players, and can be changed as many times as necessary before the live draft takes place Friday, Aug. 15 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time.

SPRING 2008

Injured reserve slots added to team rosters
For several years, UFFL owners had requested the addition of an injured reserve slot so that it would be easier to retain the services of an injured star player for the following season, rather than be faced with the dilemma of possibly losing that player forever while adding a healthy player who could contribute immediately. During the seasons that the league was hosted by Yahoo! Sports, no such feature existed. The only thing commissioners could have done was to add an extra roster spot, although some teams would have just used this feature to hold on to an extra healthy player, as opposed to solely using it for injured players.

Unlike Yahoo!, Fleaflicker has the injured reserve option - in fact, it was just added several weeks ago by the website's creator. If a player has an NFL injury status of OUT or IR, they are eligible for injured reserve, thus freeing up a roster spot for a new acquisition. When the player's real-life injury status changes such that he is no longer eligible for the fantasy roster's IR, the owner will be unable to make any roster moves until the player is removed from the IR.

Bellamy returns, Domecillo leaves, Brown comes aboard
Updating previous reports, A Fake Football Team head coach Roy Bellamy has opted to return for a second consecutive season. Bellamy is 33-29-0 over four fantasy football seasons, with one championship (in 2003, as the coach of the Miami Silver Mullets). He went 10-3-0 during the 2007 regular season, with two postseason victories prior to a heartbreaking loss to Jay Klinkhammer's A-Peterson Fan Club in UFFL Bowl VI.

Calvin Brown has joined the UFFL as a full-fledged owner for the upcoming season, replacing Becci Domecillo, who resigned after three seasons. Additionally, the team, which had been known as More to Come over the last two seasons, has been renamed bbashers.

Domecillo said she would consider a possible return to the league should an opening become immediately available in July or August, closer to the beginning of the regular season. However, she was not ready to make a commitment when contacted in mid-March. "Between the end of NBA, the beginning of baseball and March Madness, I haven't really thought all that much about fantasy football next season," she said. "If you need an answer right now, my knee-jerk reaction is no, I think I'll sit out this season."

Prior to this year, Brown served as More to Come's assistant general manager, helping with draft decisions and setting the team's lineups.

WINTER 2008

Giant surprise
Thanks to one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history, as well as a wise decision to save several of his alloted transactions until later in the game, Jared Byrd was able to come from behind to win the inaugural campaign of the UFFL: Postseason Edition league, in this year's Sporting News Fantasy Playoffs Football Challenge.

For more information about the game, including final standings and week-by-week rosters used by each of the owners, click here. For a direct link to the game page itself, click here, then log in with your user name and password.

"Biggest upset in history"
Klinkhammer concludes improbable playoff run with victory in the only bowl game that really matters

Those were the sentiments of A-Peterson Fan Club head coach Jay Klinkhammer, after being crowned as the champion of the Ultimate Fantasy Football League for the 2007 campaign. "I have done it," he proclaimed, after sneaking into the playoffs as the eighth seed, despite having a losing record (6-7), and then winning three consecutive postseason games.

For Roy Bellamy, adding insult to injury was the fact that his squad, A Fake Football Team, had the second-highest fantasy points total in the UFFL this week, meaning the only team he would have lost to this week was A-Peterson Fan Club.

For the winners, quarterback Peyton Manning added 30.39 fantasy points to wide receiver Anquan Boldin's league-leading performance (33.10 points), earning the latter UFFL Player of the Week honors. Running backs Maurice Jones-Drew (19.00 points) and Aaron Stecker (20.20 points), a recent pickup in free agency, also made huge contributions.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger led A Fake Football Team with 28.99 points, while running back Clinton Portis had 23.80 fantasy points. The Seattle Seahawks defense (21.00 points) and wide receiver Roddy White (19.05 points) also came through with decent efforts.

"I don't know what happened," Bellamy said in a conference call, just days after the devastating loss. "Nobody had a great game ... because the fantasy gods hate me." He lamented playing defensive lineman Jason Taylor, while leaving running back Najeh Davenport on the bench.

When asked if he will be returning to the league next season, Klinkhammer quipped, "For sure. I need to defend my title and maybe win it by going 5-8 next year."

In other games around the league:

Third Place Game: craigntx 117.47, The Catch 87.53
Five Dallas Cowboys started for Craig Lechner, along with their team defense, but it was an Indianapolis Colt, tight end Dallas Clark, who led all scorers in this game with 21.75 points. Much of Andrew So's team did a disappearing act during Week Sixteen, with two-thirds of his starting lineup failing to score at least 10 points. In fact, the highest scorer for The Catch was actually the Tennessee Titans defense (19.00 points). By contrast, more than half of craigntx's players had double-digit point totals.

Fifth Place Game: Pulverizers 91.45, CheeseWhiz 73.65
Even though CheeseWhiz quarterback Tom Brady had 24.80 points, outscoring every player in the Pulverizers lineup, Jim Douglas also started running backs Ron Dayne and Rudi Johnson, tight end Benjamin Watson and the Green Bay Packers defense, who combined to score -1.00 point. Running back LaDainian Tomlinson led the Pulverizers with 13.70 points.

Seventh Place Game: Exit Strategy 139.59, Cheeko's Chiefs 130.79
In a battle to avoid going winless during the UFFL postseason, Grace Cloud eked out a victory over the league's lone Canadian franchise. Several wide receivers had huge performances in this matchup - Braylon Edwards (23.10 points) and Kevin Curtis (21.90 points) for the winners, and Steve Smith (21.85 points) for the losers. One receiver, however, had anything but a huge performance: Devin Hester (-0.04 points). Perhaps he was too exhausted after playing at Halas and Landry?

Ten owners announce intentions to return
The following owners have already agreed to return to the UFFL for the 2008 season: Jared Byrd, Grace Cloud, Jim Douglas, Chad Fuller, Stephanie George, Craig Hoffman, Jay Klinkhammer, Craig Lechner, Mozelle Meyers and Andrew So.

Roy Bellamy and Becci Domecillo have not yet announced their plans for next season.

Possible rule changes for next year are currently being discussed on the league's message board, and will be further examined in upcoming weeks. Submissions are already being accepted for 2008 franchise players, although final decisions are not needed until te summer.

UFFL accelerates Fleaflicker move to 2008
As many of you already know, the Ultimate Fantasy Football League is moving from Yahoo! to Fleaflicker for the 2008 season. We were very pleased with the service provided by Yahoo!, but the idea of having free live scoring and divisional play, along with features such as being able to trade draft picks from future seasons, in addition to having more customizable scoring categories, were too much for us to pass up. Fleaflicker is currently not allowing owners to pre-register for the league - and according to their webmaster, registration will not commence until after the 2008 NFL draft has taken place - but as soon as this option is re-activated, everyone who is interested in participating will be contacted ... In other news, the winners of the 2007 league awards have been announced. Click here to find out who won Coach of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors, as well as to see who was named to the UFFL All-Pro Squad ... The league record book has been recently updated, with information having been organized in a more aesthetically pleasing and easy-to-read format. Several new categories have also been added.

AUTUMN 2007

A new home for the Ultimate Fantasy Football League?
Every couple of years, commissioner Jared Byrd considers moving the Ultimate Fantasy Football League from Yahoo! to another free fantasy football website, in an effort to provide the most exciting, entertaining experience possible. For the 2009 season, Fleaflicker is being considered as a possible destination for the league. For more information, read the latest commissioner's note.

Around the league
The Pulverizers have benched starting quarterback Philip Rivers (San Diego Chargers) in favor of Jason Campbell (Washington Redskins) for the foreseeable future. And while CheeseWhiz, who became one of the league's first two franchises to clinch a playoff berth, have both Tom Brady and Adrian Peterson on their roster, that doesn't mean they aren't experiencing their share of problems. "I better get Peterson back for the playoffs," head coach Jim Douglas said, after hearing that Peterson would miss Week 11's game - and possibly the remainder of the season - after suffering a serious knee injury. Douglas recently signed free agent RB Ron Dayne, and immediately placed him in the starting lineup ... Yet another trade deadline is about to pass without any activity. Jay Klinkhammer turned down a last-minute blockbuster deal which would have sent Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew to the Pulverizers in exchange for running backs Laurence Maroney of the New England Patriots and Chester Taylor of the Minnesota Vikings, along with Houston Texans tight end Owen Daniels. "Such a nice offer to think over, but I might wanna keep Jones-Drew for keeper for years to come," Klinkhammer said. Several weeks ago, Football Gal's Mozelle Meyers rejected a deal which would have brought Jason Campbell to her team in exchange for wide receiver Santana Moss, and more recently, the Pulverizers turned down a deal from A-Peterson Fan Club which would have sent New York Jets running back Thomas Jones, Baltimore Ravens tight end Todd Heap and Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs to them in exchange for San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson.

SUMMER 2007

Bellamy rejoins UFFL
Dallas Honeycutt has stepped down as owner of the Morristown Maulers, and has been replaced by Roy Bellamy, who will rename the franchise "A Fake Football Team."

Draft update
The people have spoken - and they have decided that a hybrid live/offline drafting process is the most viable method for completing the 2007 Ultimate Fantasy Football League draft.

Even though rosters have 18 slots, there will only be 16 rounds in this year's draft (keeping in mind that each team already has two players protected under the "franchise players" designation).

The first eight rounds of the draft will be held in a private AOL Instant Messenger chat room on Friday, Aug. 10, beginning at 8:30 p.m. Eastern. When you log on to AOL Instant Messenger on draft day, you will be directed to the chat room where the draft will be held.

It's always a good idea to come prepared, so the drafting process can move quickly and smoothly. Additionally, arriving several minutes early would be appreciated, so we can insure that the draft will begin on time. If you need to download AOL Instant Messenger for your computer, check out this link: http://www.aim.com/download.adp

The last eight rounds of the draft will be held offline (this is the way the draft was held during the 2002-2005 seasons), and will begin as soon as the live portion of the draft is over. Each team will have twelve hours to make their selection via e-mail, and if time expires before a player is selected, the commissioner will step in and select a player for them, in order to keep the draft moving. Of course, owners who know exactly who they want to draft before the 12-hour window closes are encouraged to make their selection as quickly as possible. As we draw closer to the start of the NFL regular season, the 12-hour window may be reduced to eight hours, depending on how quickly the draft process is moving.

New scoring rules announced
The following rule changes will take effect for the 2007 season:

Interceptions thrown by an offensive player will be worth -1 point, instead of -2 points.

Fumbles lost by an offensive player will be worth -1 point, instead of -2 points.

Quarterbacks (and other offensive players) will earn one point for every 25 passing yards, instead of one point for every 50 passing yards.

Draft date remains yet to be determined
No official draft date - or method - has been established yet, but it will not take place before Friday, July 27. Many owners prefer to have the draft take place near the opening of NFL training camps anyway, and this announcement will allow those of you with summer plans during the next four weeks to proceed without worrying about missing all, or part, of the draft.

In unrelated news, the league's scoring system - particularly regarding fractional and negative points - is currently under review. Stay tuned for information on any changes.

Are you ready for some (fantasy) football?
Registration for the 2007 edition of Yahoo! Fantasy Football has already started, so head over to the official website immediately to get your team signed up for the sixth season of the Ultimate Fantasy Football League. If you need the league identification number and password, contact the league commissioner via e-mail or instant messenger. For returning owners, it would really be appreciated - although not mandatory - if you retain the team nickname you used last season, for continuity purposes.

After you have already registered your team, you can easily access the official website through either of the following links: http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/182 or http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/uffl

Before the draft begins, make sure you have also sent both of your franchise player selections to the commissioner.

SPRING 2007

Cloud, Honeycutt to join UFFL?

The search for replacement coaches for the Ultimate Fantasy Football League's abandoned teams has intensified, and the two front-runners to fill the current vacancies are Grace Cloud and Dallas Honeycutt. Cloud won the league's first championship in 2002, and left after the 2003 season; Honeycutt is a newcomer to the league, but has been active in Yahoo! Fantasy Football since 1999. Stay tuned for more details.

New rule changes announced
Will the decimal points scoring system still be in effect? Have rosters been expanded or reduced? How many franchise players will each team have? Find out which proposed rule changes for the 2007 season did or did not get approved, by reading the April 2007 edition of the commissioner's note.

WINTER 2007

UFFL Bowl V: Lightning strikes twice!
For the second consecutive year, the Pulverizers walked away with the Ultimate Fantasy Football League championship, after having defeated the Steph Infections by 34.25 points in Week 16. Despite not having a squad anywhere near as talented as the 2005 team, the Pulverizers still managed to become the first team in league history to win multiple championships.

After stumbling out of the gate to an 0-4 start in the regular season, head coach Jared Byrd was just hoping to stay out of the league cellar. The team rebounded to go 5-4 in their final nine contests, thanks to a record-setting year by franchise running back LaDainian Tomlinson, and the decision to change quarterbacks in mid-season, choosing Philip Rivers over disappointing, underachieving veteran Jake Plummer. At 5-8, the Pulverizers grabbed the seventh playoff seed in an eight-team field during the final week of the regular season. Once in the postseason, they ended the championship hopes of the Purple People Eaters, Cheeko's Chiefs and the Steph Infections, despite having gone 0-5 against these teams in the regular season. "It wasn't pretty, but when we needed certain players to step up, they got it done," Byrd said, adding that he will return for a sixth season. "Obviously, all coaches want to end their careers on a high note, but I enjoy fantasy football too much to quit now."

Klinkhammer, eight others also announce plans to return
Purple People Eaters head coach Jay Klinkhammer announced his intention to return to the UFFL in 2007 as well, and said he wanted to keep Jacksonville Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew as a franchise player. "[Peyton] Manning can go back to the free agent pool," he wrote. "Jones-Drew is the future." Of course, he may be able to keep both players, if the league votes on allowing teams to select two franchise players instead of one later this offseason.

On a related note, head coaches Becci Domecillo (More to Come), Jim Douglas (CheeseWhiz), Chad Fuller (Cheeko's Chiefs), Stephanie George (Steph Infections), Craig Hoffman (Deltaman), Craig Lechner (CowboysNtx), Mozelle Meyers (Football Gal) and Andrew So (The Catch) have also confirmed they will be back for their sixth season of UFFL competition. "If I'm still breathing ... you know I'll play," Douglas said during a conference call, Tuesday, Dec. 26.

Jason Shannon (Bills SB in 2019!) and Jason Wedgwood (The Tallywhackers) are not expected to return for the 2007 season, leaving two coaching vacancies.

Other notes
The UFFL Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year and All-Pro Squad have been announced. Click here to see this year's set of winners (as well as those from the 2005 season) ... League awards for the 2002, 2003 and 2004 campaigns may be awarded retroactively this offseason, and a UFFL Hall of Fame could be established in the near future ... Commissioner Jared Byrd is leaning towards reinstating the e-mail player draft for the 2007 season, following a year in which half of the league's owners were not present for the 2006 live draft.

NFL postseason fantasy football is here!
If you couldn't get enough of fantasy football during the regular season, don't fret - the Ultimate Fantasy Football League Postseason Extravaganza is in operation on the Sporting News website! Jared Byrd, Jay Klinkhammer, Mozelle Meyers and Andrew So are among the participants during this year's playoffs. if this venture proves successful, this could become an annual event.

AUTUMN 2006

New league logo unveiled

The Ultimate Fantasy Football League unveiled a brand new logo Thursday, November 23, to be used beginning in the 2007 season. The new emblem features a cartoonish football with the "UFFL" acronym displayed across it in textile script, against a green circular background, and the words "Ultimate Fantasy Football League" printed below. Click on the logo at the right to view a larger image.

Online store now open

The Ultimate Fantasy Football League online store is now open for business.

Visit http://www.cafepress.com/uffl to view available merchandise (featuring the brand new league logo), including apparel, housewares, hats, bags, stickers, buttons, magnets, journals and more!

Football Gal experiencing epic struggles
Football Gal is currently in the middle of a ten-game losing streak, the longest in league history. After having won the 2006 season opener, they have lost every contest since then. "I can't believe how bad my team is," owner Mozelle Meyers said. Eliminated from the postseason picture long ago, Meyers now has focused on rebuilding, while trying to keep a positive attitude. "So I will get the number one pick next year," she laughed, although this scenario (while likely) has not yet become official. Meyers confirmed she will not be trying to lose the remainder of her team's games in order to improve her chances of receiving the top selection in the 2007 draft.

Klinkhammer worried about potential playoff matchup
Purple People Eaters owner Jay Klinkhammer, whose team has already clinched a playoff spot, is worried about the potential of facing a team in the postseason that hasn't even made it yet. "All I know is that I do not want to play Jared's team in the playoffs AT ALL," Klinkhammer wrote, citing Pulverizers running back LaDainian Tomlinson as the key reason for his concern. The Purple People Eaters had made an attempt to trade for Tomlinson earlier in the year, but were rejected; at the time, the Purple People Eaters were doing very well, while the Pulverizers were attempting to stay out of the league cellar. Since that point, the Pulverizers have played their way back into the postseason picture, as they battle with several other teams for the final three postseason slots.

SUMMER 2006

Shannon returns
Updating previous reports, Jason Shannon has rejoined the UFFL, replacing Roy Bellamy (who, ironically, replaced Shannon in June 2005). He compiled a 17-23 regular season record as head coach of the Bone Crushing Bills from 2002 through 2004, and his franchise will be known as "Bills SB in 2019!" for the upcoming season.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
There are relatively few changes for this year's installment of the Ultimate Fantasy Football League, the biggest of which is the selection of only one franchise player per team prior to the draft instead of two, which had been the custom during the previous two seasons. Eligible positions and scoring rules remain the same as last year.

The injured reserve debate
Although league owners overwhelmingly requested an injured reserve slot for their teams this season, it does not appear as though this can become a reality. Unlike other Yahoo! fantasy sports (such as baseball, basketball, and hockey), football is not set up in such a way so that an injured reserve slot (or slots) can be created by the league commissioner. This means that owners will probably have to use up one of their bench slots if they really want to keep someone as their franchise player for the following season. One possible result of this development could be adding one extra bench position to every team, meaning that this year's draft would be one round longer than last year's.

WINTER 2006

Bellamy resigns for the second time
After an inspiring comeback season which resulted in a playoff berth, Belly's Underdogs head coach Roy Bellamy suddenly resigned, citing an interest to spend more time with his family and listening to the Dan Le Batard Show weekday afternoons on Miami's 790-AM The Ticket. "Roy's not here ... or there," he said in a league conference call, when asked if he would re-consider his decision.

Bellamy's crowning moment came in 2003, when his Miami Silver Mullets clinched the UFFL championship, defeating Jason Shannon's Bone Crushing Bills. He finishes with an 18-22 overall record over three seasons, and a 3-3 mark in postseason play. His vacancy has yet to be filled, but favorites for the position include Todd Addington, Grace Cloud, Kenneth Ortiz, and Shannon.

UFFL expected to remain with Yahoo! Sports; possible expansion on the horizon?
While the odds of the Ultimate Fantasy Football League shifting from Yahoo! to ESPN for the 2006 season grow increasingly unlikely, there is a possibility that the league, which has always had twelve teams, could expand to fourteen teams next year.

Of course, this depends on how many owners from the current batch of teams decide to return, and how many outsiders are looking to come back to the UFFL. During the 2005 season, the Extreme Football League (XFL) was created on ESPN as a training ground for potential owners looking to join (or rejoin) the UFFL in 2006, and it also served as a way to compare the two fantasy football websites before undertaking such a huge move.

As it turns out, there really wasn't enough of a difference between the two sites to move forward with shifting all fantasy football operations to ESPN; while there were some interesting features that ESPN had that Yahoo! didn't have (for instance, divisional play), some computers had more difficulty logging into ESPN than Yahoo!, resulting in quite a few abandoned teams.

Injured reserve slots may be added to rosters
Over the last few years, quite a few teams have been faced with the dilemma of releasing a star player who was injured for several weeks, or even placed on injured reserve, early in the season, with the risk of losing them to another team in the following year's fantasy football draft. This situation happened to New Nathan Detroits owner Jay Klinkhammer during the 2004 season, when he released Kansas City Chiefs RB Priest Holmes, forgetting that the UFFL was a keeper league. Of course, Holmes was gobbled up fairly quickly by another franchise during the early stages of the 2005 draft.

In order to avoid situations like this from happening again, the UFFL is considering adding an "injured reserve" slot to each roster for the 2006 season. This matter will be put to a league vote in several weeks.

What's in a name?
As hard as it is to believe, this is not the only fantasy football league in the world with the name "Ultimate Fantasy Football League." In an effort to come up with a more creative, less common name, the league is currently looking for suggestions for a new moniker - dynamic, though not offensive; brilliant (and maybe even humorous) though not annoying. E-mail suggestions to the commissioner, using the address on the UFFL home page.